One group of blind men, rolled their blind eyes and said there is only "me" and there is no elephant.

In the second group of blind men, one touched the leg of the elephant and said he can feel that elephant is a big tree. The other three in the same group touched other legs of the elephant, and each claimed that, what they touched was only the real tree and the rest of them were wrong. Soon, they started fighting about the only correct tree, they touched and felt. They all claimed that they were following their own path and those who come and join their tree will go to heaven, and rest will go to hell.

In the third group, one man took hold of the trunk of the elephant and claimed it to be a snake. Another man in his group confirmed the finding and said the snake can also drink water from a bucket if placed before it. Soon other men in this group measured the velocity at which the snake sucked water from the vessel. They were very harmonious in their finding and continued in reporting their discoveries that the snake could amazingly lift both heavy things and small objects simultaneously.

The second belief group ridiculed the third group saying that the Snake, they are all researching was, in fact, living on their giant tree. However, the fighting second group, insisted that the Snake of the third group lived only on their particular tree.

The third group dismissed the belief of all the second group of fighting men and published reports saying that the Snake was a freely living animal, dancing up in the air without any support and not living on any imaginary tree.

In the fourth group, there were few men, who received eye transplantation to restore vision. They wore dark black cooling glasses to protect their healing eyes. They said that they were see vaguely both trees and snakes. They insisted both the groups were correct.

In the fifth group, there was very few men, who kept smiling and laughing at the elephant and all other group of men. This fifth group were busy serving food for all the group of men. They were constantly asking the fourth group men to remove their glasses and join in helping others.

The fourth group men refused to remove their glasses because they argued that they would hurt their healing eyes. The fifth group men, at one point forcefully removed the cooling glasses of the fourth group men. Strangely, they kept their eye lids tight, fearing they would hurt their eyes, by opening it.

All the men were correct in their view. Every point of view has its own logic, like pieces in a jigsaw (Zigsaw) puzzle. However, the Truth is in the holistic (whole) view.

The Truth was known by the unconditional man, who had a holistic view and did not stop only in what he believed. This is the unconditional view of seeking the Truth.

Did you guess which group view you belong to?

1. Group 1 - Who believe only what they see is the only reality and does not want to think beyond it. In other words only the sensorial information is real (Atheists) Example, believing that sun rise and sun sets every day by rotating around the flat Earth.

2. Group 2 - Who believe what their mind thinks to be the only reality and does not want to think beyond it. Example, religious people, who get stuck in names and forms given by religious leaders by taking it literally, without understanding what they were trying to convey. The main cause for this because of not understanding the difference between God and Energy.

3. Group 3 - who believe that their logical reasoning is the only reality and do not want to be aware of anything beyond it. This is the basis of science which gives most logical intellectual reasoning. However there are some limitations in the scientific research especially in "ecluding" studies and missing the "Wholeness". Example see the distinction between Consciousness and Energy.

4. Group 4 - who believe in their own Awareness Self be True, without including others as their own Self. Example, in Spiritual groups, where they theoretically understand the Concept of Universal Self, but not in action. This group looks at everything as its own Self. There is very least bias in this view. But still it is only a highest form of rational understanding or some degree of experience.

5. Group 5 - Not a belief, but realizing that everything fundamentally is the same and experience only Universal love. In other words, this group look its own Self in everything. There is no distinction between the observer and observed, all merge into one, Advaita, non-dual. This is not an intellectual understanding but "being" (not an experience).

from Elephants ancient and modern by FC Sillar and RM Meyler.

The Blind Men and the Elephant occurs in the Udana, a Canonical Hindu Scripture.